2 Lexington men charged for child sexual abuse material, SC officials said
Two Lexington County men have been charged for child sexual exploitation, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday.
Ralph Scott Gunter, 58, and Albert Halloween Strickland, 56, were arrested on charges connected to the sexual exploitation of minors. The cases are unrelated, officials said.
CyberTipline reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led investigators to the men, both of whom are accused of possessing and distributing files of child sexual abuse material.
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department made the arrests, while investigators with the South Carolina attorney general’s office assisted, according to a news release.
Strickland was arrested June 11. He is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in the third degree.
Gunter was arrested June 12. He is charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in the second degree and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in the third degree.
Each are felony offenses, and each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Gunter and Strickland will be prosecuted by the South Carolina attorney general’s office.
